Runt
by The-stuttering-kiwi
Summary: After years of torment in his home realm of Jotunheim, Loki comes up with a plan to restore the frost giants to glory. The only catch is he must gain the trust of Odin's family-and most importantly-not get distracted by Thor's soon to be Princess.
1. Chapter 1

Loki knew several things:

First, that he was a failed experiment. And that even though he was the king's son, he was an outcast; his father _hated_ him.

And lastly, most importantly, it was all the King of Asgard's—Odin's- fault.

All of these facts made his life miserable. They made Loki wish he had never been born; but unfortunately for him, he had been.

His father often told him about his plan to create a master race that was part Jotun and Asgardian—a creature the size of a frost giant and the magical skill of the Aesir. What Laufey hadn't counted on was Loki taking after his mother—something she had been killed promptly for. Why Loki hadn't joined his mother, he never understood. Sometimes he wished he had been killed right away so he wouldn't have to suffer at the hands of his father and the rest of his race.

A race that treated him less than the lowest slave in the realm. They often used him as target practice when training; after all, no one cared if he got hurt. As a result, he has a collection of scars that, when combined with his tribal markings, meant he didn't have an inch of smooth skin on his body.

If he was lucky (he almost never was), he would keep out of sight long enough to where no one noticed him. He would spend days hiding in the library of Jotenheim, a place with the only books in the realm…and a place where no one ever went. It was here he fed his hatred of Asgardians and found out why Laufey was so determined to create a secret weapon. It was also where he found the only book about magic-magic that he was pretty damn good at. Loki was able to conjure weapons out of thin air, create clones of himself (he wished he would master that one—these were so feeble), cast illusions, and if he tried hard enough, he could shapeshift.

He worked hard to shift into the pictures of Asgardians he saw in the books. Loki was able to replace his blue skin and red eyes, but the scars remained. He managed to give himself shoulder length black hair and a more regal shape to his face. He could pass for an Asgardian if it wasn't for the damned scars. But then…maybe that could work in his favor…

Loki braced himself as he walked into his father's chambers; something he never dared to do since his father was the reason for the most horrendous scars on his body. Laufey was sitting on his throne, a few of his advisors muttering about what was plaguing the planet and how as King of the Frost Giants he must have some plan to save his people. But as soon as Loki came into his line of sight, his red eyes narrowed into slits..,

Loki paused for a moment. His father was in a bad mood, and if he just stood there like a fool he would be lucky to crawl back to his chambers. But he ran his plan through his head carefully. He knew it step by step, every detail by heart.

"I have a plan to restore Jotenheim to glory."


	2. Chapter 2

Loki's chest was on fire.

With each breath he took he began to cough uncontrollably—his lungs not used to the warm damp air of Asgard.

 _This may be harder than I thought._

His eyes watered, his throat was sore and is pale skin shimmered with sweat. And he hadn't even gotten to the city yet. He tugged at his itchy wool shirt and rubbed his hands on the rough fabric of his too short pants—clothing he had managed to steal from the first empty cottage he had come across. Loki kept his eyes on the ground trying to dodge as many rocks and sticks as he could—he wasn't able to find any shoes.

 _Much harder._

He wasn't exactly sure where he had ended up in his travel from Jotunheim to Asgard—his only care was that Heimdal, the all-seeing god, didn't know he was coming; at least not until he was ready for him too. Loki had studied the hidden pathways in the galaxy, pathways long since forgotten but he knew them like the back of his hand. The only downside was that he didn't know where this pathway had put him. He needed to keep walking.

"Are you lost?" A woman's voice asked.

Loki nearly jumped out of his skin—he was so exhausted from his hike (and coughing) that he had fallen asleep leaning up against a tree—he hadn't heard the speaker walk up to him.

"What?"

"Are you lost?" The woman repeated herself. She looked older, with gray in her hair.

"I…I guess I got turned around. I'm trying to find my way to the city."

"I'll say, my property is one of the farthest ones away." She smiled at him; Loki didn't know how to respond so he said nothing.

"You aren't far from the road though, I can show you where it is," she started to point in a direction when she noticed his bare feet. "You won't get far like that. Come on, I may have a spare pair of shoes."

Loki didn't move—and still said nothing. He wasn't used to someone being kind to him.

The woman looked at him with an amused look on her face, "I won't bite you know."

Loki offered her what he hoped would come across as a smile and followed her to her cabin.

* * *

"Have you been out here long?" The woman asked while she rifled through several chests.

"A couple days," Loki replied after swallowing a chunk of bread she had offered him and helped it go down with a gulp of ice (thankfully) cold water.

"Lucky I found you then," She let out a little whoop of celebration when she found the shoes she was looking for, "Although you look like you've been through Hel." She handed the shoes to him.

"A bit," Loki mumbled as he eased the shoes on, careful to avoid the blisters that had formed from walking barefoot through the forest.

"What brings you to Asgard?" The woman didn't flinch when Loki looked up quickly and stared at her when she asked the question, "I only ask because I think you would have stood out by now." She said lightly.

"I…I wished to speak to the Allfather."

"Hmmm, well, I hope you get to speak with him sooner than later, but his appointments with his subjects usually run out weeks at a time."

"I think he will speak to me." The woman considered him for a moment, her stare making Loki a little uncomfortable but he refused to show it.

After a long while she finally spoke, "Yes, I think he will too."

* * *

The woman had sent Loki on his way with a full stomach and a canteen full of water. For the first time in his life, he felt grateful—and excited—the last few miles passed quickly and he could see the backs of the market stalls and the hum of voices.

He finally had arrived.


	3. Chapter 3

_A HUGE thank you to **Redhood001** for your review!_

* * *

Loki was incredibly on edge as he weaved in and out of the crowd of people. No one seemed to pay any attention to him though, a few glanced at his scars and gave him an apologetic look, but other than that no one gave him any trouble.

It was hard to ignore some of the stalls though. He had never seen so many books in his life. He flicked through the pages as he passed by, trying to remember the titles. Maybe once he got some money he could come back for a few of them. There was a strong smell of ale on the air as he passed several taverns—he could hear loud cheering coming from behind the wooden doors. Loki took a quick right turn down a quiet alley trying to get some space from all the bodies. The stalls down this way were smaller and darker, their merchants shabbier. He was distracted by an assortment of supposedly cursed medallions when he heard some of the shop owners getting rowdy.

"Who the hel do you think you are?" One of the men sneered, Loki noticed a pretty (for an Asgardian anyway) woman walking away from them quickly, heading in his direction, trying to get out of the alley.

Loki did his best to ignore what was going on—it was better not to get involved.

"Didn't I have you a few times?" Another man walked up behind her and wrapped an arm around her twice and proceeded to thrust against her twice.

"Get off me!" The woman spat and shoved an elbow into his gut, causing him to grunt loudly.

"I guess that must have been before she became Prince Thor's private whore!" Another man laughed.

Loki looked up at Thor's name, maybe this could be his into the family.

"Once a whore always a whore," The man who had grabbed her before grabbed her again and slammed her back against the brick of the wall lining the alleyway.

"I am engaged to Prince Thor, he will kill you for this." The woman said bravely, pushing the man back.

"Do you think anyone will bow to a whore? Much less a Vanir half breed." The man spat at her—the sound of her hand striking the man's face echoed off the walls of the alley.

Everyone who had stopped to watch seemed to hold their breath.

"You are going to pay for that." He snarled and raised his hand high.

Loki conjured a dagger quickly, darting forward and grabbing the man's wrist and twisting his arm around his back, jabbing his weapon into his side—enough to rip through the fabric and break the skin but not enough to really harm him.

"I would think twice about what you are about to do," Loki said calmly.

"Let go of me freak!" The man struggled against Loki's grasp but he wasn't able to get away.

"What is going on here?" There was a clinking of armor as four palace guards came upon them.

"This man attacked me," The woman pointed to the man Loki had just released.

"We were just having a pleasant conversation and he just attacked me! Look at this!" He pointed to the small wound at his side.

"That is not true, he protected me."

"How many of you saw him attack me?" The group murmured in agreement with him.

"Mistress Acadia, we should take you back to the palace." One of the guards motioned for her to join them.

Just as Loki started to inch away from the scene one of the guards grabbed him by the upper arm with one hand and the man with the other.

"And you two are coming with us, we are going to settle this."


	4. Chapter 4

_**Redhood001, you are a gem and should be protected. I wish I could do longer chapters too but I cannot for the life of me add "fluff" to chapters, I get to the point and basically that's it. It was my downfall in English class too hahaha**_.

* * *

Loki hoped he did not look as panicked as he felt as looked. A small part of him tried to convince himself that this may work to his favor but…up to this point his life had no luck in it at all. He could feel Acadia's eyes on him more than once as they were lead from the market to the palace but he kept his eyes focused on the heels of the guard in front of him. The only thing that told him he had entered the palace was the change in light and sound.

"What have you brought the All-Father this time?"

Loki's eyes darted up despite his best efforts to keep them down. The man who spoke was wrapped in gold robes and carrying a large number of scrolls and a quill.

"These two fighting in the black market, over Mistress Acadia it seems." One of the guards spoke, thrusting Loki and the man forward as Acadia shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, you better take them in first before the rest get here." The man with the scrolls opened a set of enormous golden doors Loki hadn't noticed.

The room was huge, lined with more golden clad soldiers, and several finely dressed men and woman milling about talking so quietly that Loki could hardly make out what they were saying. At the end of the room sat Odin—glorious in his throne, his remaining eye focused on them as they walked towards him. Standing next to him could only be his son Thor. Loki's heart thundered in his chest. He would give anything to kill them right here and now.

"Acadia!" Thor ran towards them, "You were supposed to be back hours ago!" He held her face in his large hands and looked her over, checking for any damage.

"I got held up."

"By these two?" Thor turned his angry eyes to Loki. The man next to him shrank back but Loki stood still—he was not afraid of Thor.

"Only the one, he helped me." Acadia nodded to Loki.

"That's not-" the man started.

"Silence!" Odin thundered, Loki was sure the man next to him was about to faint from fear. "Acadia, you will tell me what happened."

"I was in the market," she began.

"The black market?" Odin interrupted her, eyebrow raised.

"Yes," She replied sheepishly.

"Acadia, I told you if you ever wanted to go there to wait for me and I'd go with you!"

"You were going to be busy…"

"Acadia, I warned you about others when you and Thor chose to be married. They would not be kind or forgiving given your past." Acadia seemed to shrink a bit as Thor seemed to move unconsciously towards her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "Continue."

"I got separated from my guard when I slipped into the black market; I wanted to look for a medallion for the wedding. I thought they would have Vanir artifacts. I was getting along fine until this one and his friend realized who I was and assaulted me." She pointed to the man standing next to Loki.

"I was only joking." He laughed nervously.

"You were joking when you grabbed me and started to thrust against me?"

"HE WHAT?" Thor roared, causing Loki to jump despite himself—he was sure the man next to him had promptly shit himself.

"Again, only joking."

"And where does this one come in?" Odin gestured to Loki.

"After I had fought him off, he pinned me against a wall. I had slapped him and he was about to hit me, that one came up and grabbed him—holding him still with a dagger at his side."

"Were you wounded?" Odin asked the man and raised his eyebrows when he saw the small cut at his side.

"I am amazed at your restraint." Odin turned his attention to Loki for the first time.

"Thank you," Loki replied with a smirk.

Odin considered them all for a moment, "So if this is all cut and dry and this one here acted bravely I don't see why all the commotion, why not just take him to the dungeons until sentencing?"

"Acadia's attacker maintained his innocence and had the witnesses agree that he had done nothing and was attacked himself." One of the guards spoke.

"I see, is this still your story?" Odin asked the man, "I should remind you that if we need bother Lord Heimdal to discover your lies your punishment will be more severe."

"Well…I…may have acted a bit…"

"Did you or did you not assault Prince Thor's soon to be bride?!" Odin shouted, clearly starting to lose his patience with the situation before him.

"I did." The man shrank back.

Odin scoffed, "Take him away, I will decide on his punishment later."

To Loki's amusement, the man started to weep as he was lead away.

"Acadia, I hope this is a lesson for you. My wish is that the people will accept you to be their Queen. Just as it was my hope that they would accept Queen Frigga who is also of your realm. I will be the first one to admit it did take some time for them to come around to the idea but there are still few that carry hate for Vanir. But it seems your past…profession…seems to hinder you more than just what blood you have. You must give it time before you go out into the realm as a part of the royal family."

"Yes, All-Father." Acadia hung her head. Loki could see Odin soften towards her for a moment.

"Go rest," Odin said offering her a smile, "it has been a long day for you."

"Thank you," As she turned to leave, Thor made to follow her but Odin made him stay behind.

"Thor, I hope you have thought this through. I doubt this will be the last time she endures something like this."

"I have father, we both have," Thor said adamantly.

"Very well," Odin turned his attention to Loki again, "So what are we going to do with you? You are not of Asgard I think, who are you?"

Loki paused for a moment, wondering what he would tell him. Then it hit him—this may work would perfectly after all.

"I am Loki of Jotenheim, Son of Laufey King of the Frost Giants. My mother was Asgardian and a prisoner of the Jotuns. I escaped and came here in search of refuge."


End file.
